The False-eyed Wrasse can be identified by the small green spot or mark behind the eye, and broad red submarginal band on the caudal fin.Males (terminal phase) are generally greenish-brown with orange and green stripes on the head that become greenish-brown bands on the rear of the body. Females (intermediate phase) are more colourful with pink, blue, and purple stripes on the body, and a pair of ocelli on the dorsal fin.Juveniles (initial phase) have a series of orange, green and white stripes on the sides, a pair of ocelli on the dorsal fin, and a small black spot on the upper part of the caudal-fin base.

False-eyed Wrasse,
Halichoeres biocellatusSchultz 1960

More Info

Distribution

Cape Cuvier to the Murion Islands, and offshore reefs of north Western Australia, and the far northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea, to at least Seal Rocks, New South Wales, with juveniles to Montague Island. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, east-Indo-west-central Pacific.Inhabits seaward reefs, including reef crests and slopes, usually in areas of mixed coral, rocky or rubble-algae substrates with sand patches.